


Windows For The Dead

by merycula (thanksillpass)



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-02-21
Packaged: 2018-03-14 10:15:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3406907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thanksillpass/pseuds/merycula
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kagami is terrified of ghosts so, of course, he ends up renting a haunted apartment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Windows For The Dead

Kagami would like to say that he didn’t believe in ghosts, but he did, and he was terrified of them. In America, he heard all about haunted houses, and it scared him to the point that he vowed to never buy a house of his own. He stayed away from them in Japan too, because these people were even more crazy about horrifying urban legends than Americans – he’s seen the movies they made.

Now, while it was common courtesy to tell someone they were buying a house where someone died a gruesome death, at least in the movies, no one ever actually thought it would be a good idea to admit they were renting you a haunted apartment. Which was apparently what happened to Taiga, if the spooky noises he heard at night were anything to go by.

“Tatsuya, I’m not joking!” he complained. “This place is haunted! I hear all this grumbling like someone is moving the furniture!”

Himuro sighed into the phone. “Are you sure it’s not just your snoring? Or the pipes?”

“Tatsuya!” he protested. “I’m serious! Stay the night, just one night, you’ll see!”

“Now, why would I willingly sleep in a haunted apartment, Taiga?” deadpanned Himuro, and sighed again. “Just move out, you can crash at mine until you find another place.”

Kagami whined. “Can’t. Paid for four months upfront…”

“Well, that was stupid. Better get used to your new roommate, then.”

That’s how helpful his friends were, basically, so Taiga was on his own. He determinedly did his research on the supernatural, which mostly led him to disturbing homoerotic fanfiction, but also gave him a basic idea about how to protect himself, and seeing as the ghost was already  _in_  the apartment, swinging at it with an iron crowbar was the only remaining option.

Too bad that it didn’t work when Kagami finally encountered the ghost.

He found him standing by the window, staring at the basketball court outside, and Taiga just  _panicked._  He lunged at the ghost with a cry, but the crowbar just went through him like air, and Kagami stood there, panting, and saying his prayers, while the ghost stared at him impassively. He was kind of short, looked unassuming in his striped shirt, and his blue eyes seemed the deadest part of him.

“So rude,” said the ghost reprimandingly. “Must be the American upbringing. Have I offended you in any way to deserve such treatment, Kagami-kun?”

Embarrassing truth be told, Taiga fainted on the spot.

The ghost was hovering over him when he came to, and offered him a relieved smile that simply surprised Kagami, instead of scaring him. If he really was a ghost, and not a figment of Taiga’s imagination, he was really doing a poor job, introducing himself politely, and asking if Kagami was alright. His good manners embarrassed Taiga, and kind of compelled him to try and be courteous too, and before he went back to bed, he was officially acquainted with his new dead roommate, Kuroko Tetsuya.

He was about Kagami’s age, a kindergarten teacher, and a basketball fan, which at least explained the reason why he always loitered around the window. No one else was able to see him, which sometimes made Taiga think he really was hallucinating, but Kuroko knew things about the apartment, and even some of the neighbors, which Kagami couldn’t possibly have any idea about after living there for less than two weeks.

“Well, I don’t have a corporal body, so I must be dead,” replied Kuroko when Taiga finally mustered up the courage to ask him some  _real_  questions. “But I’m not actually able to touch anything. So while I am a ghost, the noises were coming from the pipes. They always annoyed me too.”

They were watching movies on the couch, and Kagami was stuffing himself with popcorn, while Kuroko watched him enviously, so Taiga suddenly started throwing it at him, annoyed by the passive-aggressive atmosphere. It only made a mess of his couch, since everything went through the ghost, so he put the popcorn away, dejected, and scowled at Kuroko.

“Have you actually  _tried_  to touch something?” he asked.

“Yes, I have tried strangling you in your sleep many times, Kagami-kun.”

Kagami paled, and his heart stopped, before he realized it was a joke. “This isn’t funny, idiot!”

“I beg to differ,” said Kuroko with a light chuckle. “I think it’s hilarious.”

On most days, it really was just like having a regular roommate, a really useless, but also a low-maintenance one. Taiga couldn’t do certain things, like punch Kuroko when he pissed him off, but the ghost had limited options too – he couldn’t really do any of the scary stuff, like telekinesis and disappearing, or even the annoying stuff, like,  _well,_  telekinesis and disappearing (Kagami had a feeling Kuroko would use his powers to be annoying instead of scary).

Except the fact that Kuroko had no presence and was thus hard to notice, which occasionally resulted in startled yelps when Taiga found him casually sitting on the couch, living with Kuroko was really unnervingly normal – no temperature drops, no crinkling electricity, not even walking in on Kagami in the shower. Kuroko stuck to the living room and the kitchen, which weren’t restricted by the doors, and he basically stared out that damned window all day long.

“So I get you miss playing basketball,” said Taiga, mouth full of curry.

Kuroko rolled his eyes. “Kagami-kun is disgusting. No manners at all. I do miss it. I enjoy watching  _you_  play, though. Kagami-kun really has an incredible talent.”

“What else to you miss?” he muttered to hide his embarrassment caused by Kuroko’s words.

Kuroko walked over to him, smiling, and hovered over the chair to appear sitting. “Many things. My dog. Reading. My job. Vanilla milkshakes. My friends…”

“Sorry I asked,” blurted Kagami, suddenly mortified by his own lack of tact. “Shit, Kuroko, sorry.”

“I don’t mind, Kagami-kun, really. I have a new friend, now.”

“Huh?” cried Taiga, shocked. “Who?!”

Kuroko sent him a blank look. “ _You,_  idiot…”

They really did become friends in the few months they shared the apartment. Kuroko was cheeky and annoying, but he was good company, and Kagami really liked him. Maybe it was because he was dead, or maybe just because he was a good listener, but Taiga has told Kuroko things about himself he never even told Tatsuya, his best friend since forever. Kuroko made him feel at ease, like Kagami could absolutely trust him.

It was weird, feeling like this about a ghost.

He picked up reading because of Kuroko, and he would just sit on the couch, turning the pages, while Kuroko hovered behind him, reading too. He started drinking vanilla milkshakes, because Kuroko like the smell, and he went out to play basketball more often, so Kuroko could watch him from the window. He didn’t get a dog, because he still hated them, but he didn’t leave any doors locked, letting Kuroko into his bathroom, his bedroom, his  _life_  completely.

“I bet your biggest regret is dying in that awful shirt,” he quipped when Kuroko was helping him decide on the outfit for dinner with Alex.

“You’re absolutely right, Kagami-kun,” deadpanned Kuroko, rejecting another shirt. “It’s a lesson for you, always dress to  _die._ ”

Taiga snorted. “Your sense of humor will never get better, won’t it?”

“I have other qualities,” said Kuroko with a shrug. “Check out those guns.”

When Kuroko flexed his nonexistent muscles, wearing no expression whatsoever, Kagami finally cracked up, and laughed until he cried. He grinned, wiping his tears, and looked at Kuroko, who stared back at him with the smallest smile dancing on his lips, and Taiga’s breath hitched. He really thought that Kuroko was beautiful, and that was his cue to go, regardless of what he was wearing.

He  _wasn’t_  attracted to a ghost.

Except he kind of was, and he was constantly distracted by the thought, to put it mildly. To be honest, he was a complete mess, enough to be careless on the job, and land in a hospital with a concussion and a broken arm. He couldn’t go back home for whole three days, and he was losing his mind, unable to contact Kuroko. When he was finally released, and opened the door to his apartment, Kuroko just stood there, utter terror painting his features.

He looked like he hasn’t moved from the spot for the entire time Kagami was gone, like he was crying his eyes out the whole time, and Taiga never wished he could touch someone so badly in his life. He wanted to hug him, kiss him, apologize to him, comfort him. But all they could to was just to stand there and gape at each other, panting for breath, and holding back tears.

Kuroko stayed in his bed that night, despite the fact he didn’t sleep anymore, refusing to let Kagami out of his sight. They lied there in the dim light, facing each other, rarely blinking in order not to lose the only connection they had without being able to touch each other. It was hell, but Taiga told himself it was enough; it  _had to_ be enough.

“I love you,” he said.

Kuroko didn’t blink. “I love you.”

Kagami was stupidly happy with his dead boyfriend, which was something he never thought he’d say, even in his mind. It was weird, obviously, but they were getting better at pretending normalcy. Kuroko pretended to sleep in his bed, pretended to shower with him, pretended to sit by the table when Taiga ate breakfast, pretended to kiss him when he left for work. They both pretended it was Kuroko’s hands touching Kagami while Kuroko told him all the things he would do to him if he could. It was  _really_  weird, but Taiga was happy.

Until Kuroko just disappeared.

Like every night, they lied facing each other on their bed, just staring at each other, until Kagami’s eyelids started to flutter, as an inevitable sign of the incoming sleep. Kuroko told him he loved him, and instead of replying in kind, Taiga sleepily confessed that he wished Kuroko would come back to life, that he  _needed_  him to come back. He blinked heavily, and when he opened his eyes, Kuroko was gone. Kagami panicked, and he was instantly more awake than ever. He called, and searched the entire apartment, including the goddamn cupboards, but Kuroko was nowhere to be found.

And Taiga broke down. Day after day, he was going through hell, completely losing his mind, and he couldn’t even  _tell_  anyone. He was left alone with all his grief and all his questions, driving his friends away in his stupor, and talking only to Kuroko, pretending he was still there to listen. He stopped taking calls, or answering the door, and within a week, he’s become a shadow of himself – as if replacing the one Kuroko has been for the past few months. He would have eventually faded away, if he didn’t suddenly realize that it wasn’t what Kuroko would have wanted, and he would wipe the floor with Kagami if he ever saw him like that.

And just like that, Kagami Taiga took a shower, got dressed, grabbed a basketball, and finally decided to leave the apartment. But when he opened the door, he had to drop the ball, and physically rub his eyes, because he was more than certain he was hallucinating. Because there was no way that Kuroko was standing in his doorway right now, with a giant dog sitting by his side. Taiga  _had to_  be seeing things. But he wanted to believe his delusional mind, more than anything ever, so he swallowed the lump in his throat, and  _believed._

“How,” he croaked.

“I wasn’t dead, Kagami-kun” said Kuroko lightly, like it was the most normal thing to say. “I was in a coma. You told me to come back, so I did.”

Kagami was at a loss for words. He still wasn’t sure he could believe himself, because Kuroko’s story definitely seemed too good to be true. But if it was, he had no idea what to say anyway – he had so many questions, so many hopes, that he was afraid his voice would fail him if he opened his mouth. He wanted to know why it took Kuroko so long to come back to him, if he knew what Taiga was going through while he was gone. His stunned silence brought a worried scowl to Kuroko’s face, and it was so familiar, Kagami was willing to believe it was real.

“I apologize, Kagami-kun,” said Kuroko shakily, ducking his head in shame. “I know I’m late. They wouldn’t release me from the hospital, and it never occurred to me that I might need your cell phone number. I couldn’t send any of my friends, because they would only think I’ve gone crazy, and they would have kept me there longer. I’m so sorry, Kagami-kun, please, don’t cry…”

Taiga didn’t even realize there were tears rolling down his face until Kuroko pointed it out. He promptly wiped them with the back of his hand, and took a shuddering breath. Kuroko’s dog whined softly, rubbing his head on Kuroko’s thigh, as its owner nervously twisted the leash in his hands, not meeting Kagami’s eye. Taiga still couldn’t speak, he could barely stand, but he managed to reach out, and touch Kuroko’s cheek, which wrung a shiver out of both of them. Shocked, he held his breath, running his fingers down Kuroko’s face, marveling at the feeling.

“This is real,” he stammered. “You’re real. You’re alive.”

Kuroko put his hand on Kagami’s, nodding in confirmation, and smiled. “Are you going to invite me inside?”

Overwhelmed, Taiga let out a surprised chuckle. Then, he let Kuroko in.


End file.
